Houston Rockets Shopping Dwight Howard as NBA Trade Deadline Approaches
With the NBA trade deadline coming up on February 18, rumors are running rampant. The Miami Heat are shopping Hassan Whiteside, the Los Angeles Clippers are (allegedly) considering moving on from Blake Griffin, and now the Houston Rockets are taking offers for Dwight Howard—it’s quite the time to buy if you’re in the market for a big man.
The last one is interesting. Howard always seems to be in the news for something. Sadly, since his days with the Orlando Magic, that something has rarely been accomplishments on the court. Usually, he’s just complaining.
“I want to win,” said Howard in a recent interview, denying that he wants to leave Houston. “I want this situation to work. I chose this team, and I’m not running because we have been faced with some adversity.”
Howard’s agent, Dan Fegan, backed him up.
“I’m not privy to what the Rockets are doing or not doing with respect to Dwight Howard. What I can say, with 100 percent certainty, is that Dwight has not and has never asked the Rockets for a trade. And neither have I.”
No one would blame you, Dwight. It’s a mess in Houston right now. The Rockets are hovering around .500 and fighting tooth-and-nail with the Utah Jazz and Portland Trailblazers to stay in the top eight in the Western Conference.
While I’m not going to say that Howard is playing up to his full potential, he really isn’t the problem. James Harden looks like he doesn’t care out on the court, and he still hasn’t been disciplined for his utter lack of defense.
Howard still has a few good years left, but I stress the “few.” If he wants to win, he’ll need to move. The problem with Howard, like with many other players of his caliber, is the massive contract. The top teams in the league right now are the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers, and San Antonio Spurs, and they aren’t really in a position to pick up a max contract—especially for a center.
Sorry, Dwight. It’s all about small-ball now. Just ask Steph.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens to the big man. The Rockets, either way, don’t look to be going anywhere anytime soon.